Financial Options
Cost
The cost of treatment depends on the severity of the patient's problem. You will be able to discuss fees and payment options before treatment begins. We also accept assignment from most insurance plans and file the necessary papers to the insurance company. We work hard to make dental care affordable and to make sure that you utilize your insurance benefits.
Fees
In an effort to keep fees down while maintaining the highest level of professional care, we have established this financial policy:
- Any portion not covered by dental insurance will be due at your appointment.
- For your convenience, we accept payment by cash, check, VISA, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express.
- You may use a health spending account to pay for patient responsibilities if the card issued can run as a straight VISA or Mastercard. The patient is responsible for keeping all payment and service receipts. We charge $10 to prepare an annual spending summary.
We value your time and allow enough time per patient to run a smooth schedule for you. We ask that you value our time and provide at least 24 hours notice for appointments that you cannot keep. We charge $25 for failed appointments that leave our schedule open.
Insurance
If you have insurance, we will help you to determine the coverage you have available. Professional care is provided to you, our patient, and not to an insurance company. Thus, the insurance company is responsible to the patient and patients are responsible to the doctor. We will help in every way we can in filing your claim and handling insurance questions from our office on your behalf.
Insurance Plans
We file most major insurance company dental plans and smaller in-state dental plans. Some, but not all, include the following:
- Aetna
- Ameritas
- Assurant
- Cigna
- Blue Cross of GA and CA
- GA Delta Dental
- The Guardian
- Humana
- Met Life
- Principle
- Sun Life
- United Concordia
- United Healthcare
Included in these listed plans are those for the following local employers: Gwinnett County Schools, Gwinnett County Government (not GEHA), DeKalb County Schools, AT&T, and Southern Company.
Insurance Coverage
All plans are different. Call the number on your dental insurance card to get your full benefit coverage details. In general, most insurance plans cover the following:
- Preventative Care
A dental exam and cleaning two times per year. Dental bite-wing x-rays once per year. A full mouth or panoramic dental x-ray once every five years. - Basic Restorative (fillings/root canals)
Most plans cover 80% of the usual, customary, and reasonable (UCR) fees after any applicable annual deductible and up to the plan maximum. - Major Restorative (crowns/bridges)
Most plans cover 50% of the UCR fees after any applicable annual deductible and up to the plan maximum.
PPO and HMO Dental Plans
Dr. Fievet is not a participant provider in any managed care programs, inclusive of Medicare and Medicaid. We believe that trusted, quality dental care is not a commodity. We are committed to continuing education and provide professional family care without the restrictions that often come with managed care.
We are often asked what it means to go "out-of-network" to come to our office. Basically under a PPO, you are encouraged to go to a provider on your dental plan's list and they will cover a percentage of the fee (up to 100%) which are typically reduced contract rates. If you choose to come to our office, you may still have similar coverage for preventative care (often up to 100%) but they would be paid against our regular UCR fees. Therefore, if your plan's coverage is not 100%, you would have some out-of-pocket expenses.
When comparing dentists, you should review their published rates for a new patient cleaning. Then review your plan to determine if you would pay any money out-of-pocket for that provider. In many cases preventative care is covered at 100% for either in-network or out-of-network providers. Restorative care typically has coverage differences and would require deeper comparison.
Finally, consider referrals from neighbors and friends. You may find that a few dollars is worth the reputation and references provided for a trusted office like ours.